Journalist given 15 years for espionage in Transdniester

New York, December 17, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the 15-year prison sentence given to independent journalist Ernest Vardanian, who has been held on falsified espionage charges in the unrecognized separatist Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) since April. The PMR is commonly known as Transdniester, and broke away from Moldova proper in 1990.

In a closed hearing on Thursday, the Supreme Court of PMR
convicted Vardanian of high treason and ordered him transferred to a
strict-regime penal colony, regional
and international
press reported. It was unclear whether Vardanian's PMR-appointed lawyer would
appeal the verdict.

Aleksandru Postica, a lawyer representing Vardanian's family
in the Moldovan capital of Chisinau, was not allowed to represent the
journalist in the PMR court, the U.S. government-funded Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty reported.
Irina Vardanian, the journalist's wife, told Europa Libera
(the Moldova
service of RFE/RL) that the PMR-
appointed lawyer refused to meet with her and ignored her calls. "I learned
about the verdict when some journalists called to interview me," she said.

Prior to his arrest
in April, Vardanian, 30, worked as a staff reporter and political analyst
for the Chisinau-based newspaper Puls,
freelanced for the Russian Internet news agency Novy Region, and occasionally
contributed to Europa Libera. Puls Editor-in-Chief Dmitry Kavruk told
Deutsche Welle in April that the PMR's Ministry of State Security (MGB) had
been pressuring Vardanian to stop working for Chisinau media outlets.

"Moldovan authorities must step up their efforts for the
release of Ernest Vardanian," CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. "The charges are bogus.
Vardanian should be freed immediately."

Irina Vardanian told Europa Libera she was not informed of any
of the trial dates, and she was not allowed in the court. Lawyer Postica told RFE/RL that the "case is political and the so-called
minister of justice in Tiraspol [the regional capital of Transdniester] has indicated very clearly that he
wants Vardanian to be sentenced."

A group of armed MGB agents arrested Vardanian at his home
in Tiraspol and
placed him in an agency detention facility, according to press reports and CPJ
interviews. MGB agents searched the journalist's home and confiscated
computers, recording equipment and reporter's notebooks, as well as the
family's bank and credit cards. The MGB denied Vardanian access to a lawyer
after his arrest, according to press reports.

CPJ has advocated
on Vardanian's behalf, and called
on Moldovan authorities to secure his release. On December 9, Sergiu Luca, first
secretary at the Embassy of Moldova in the United States, responded to CPJ's
request for information on the status of Moldova's efforts to gain Vardanian's
release, saying: "Official authorities have no access in the region. Also, the Moldovan
government does not recognize any 'decision' taken by the unconstitutional so-called
courts in the region A series of diplomatic efforts and steps have been
undertaken to release our citizen."